City Decides on Cochran Engineering to Design Downtown Plaza

The Sedalia City Council approved an agreement with Cochran Engineering Services Monday night for design work on a proposed plaza at 2nd and Ohio.

A total of 10 responses were received after the City sent out a Request For Qualifications (RFQ) on May 25. Nine of the firms are located in Missouri, and one is in Chicago, acccording to John Simmons, Sedalia Community Development director.

Although several local architects were solicited with the request, none of them submitted their qualifications for the project, Simmons pointed out.

The downtown property was acquired in April 2017, and the City has been working with various citizen groups and the Council for ideas on how to utilize the property. Parks & Rec agreed to bring in a design consultant. The top potential vendor was Cochran Engineering, and the decision was nearly unanimous, Simmons noted.

The Council vote was six yes, and two absent. Councilwomen Jo Lynn Turley and Bonita Nash were absent from Monday night's meeting, as was Mayor John Kehde.

The Council also passed an ordinance regarding pick up of solid waste and bulky rubbish on the City's right-of-ways. City Administrator Kelvin Shaw explained that complaints have been received about unsightly piles of rubbish waiting to be picked up at curbside between regularly-scheduled pickup times.

The City's on-demand service can address that problem, he said, adding that each resident is allowed two free pickups per year before a charge kicks in. The charge amounts to around $25 per pickup. The decision was made to go ahead and make the pickup in those cases and the resident will be charged if they are over the limit already.

The Council agreed to extend a maintenance agreement with Mission Communications Software at a cost of $3,690. The software that operates the City's sanitary sewer system is designed by Mission and assists in the management of the Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) component. Also, SCADA alerts staff if the system is approaching failure, it was noted.

The Council also agreed to allow retiring Water Department manager Charles Brosch to purchase the city truck that was assigned to him. Bryant Motor Company has agreed to take the truck as $20,000 trade-in (fair market value) on a new truck that will be used at the city's cemetery. The new truck has arrived and will be put to use soon. Bryant Motor Company will sell the old truck to Brosch. The Finance Department will make payments for the difference.

A new federal EPA requirement has dictated that dental operations must use amalgam separators to capture mercury and other heavy metals before the water is discharged into the City's sewer system. Therefore, dental offices must comply with the new regulation and install the separators to prevent the harmful metals from entering the water treatment facility.

The City also negotiated a financing lease agreement with Rehrig Financial Services for recycle carts, which are due to arrive in a couple of months. The agreement allows the City to pay for the carts over a five-year period at 1.99 percent interested.

The Council also agreed to spend $35,650 with Wilson and Company, Inc., to design a sewer line extension for Nucor Steel. Shaw noted that staff has been working with Nucor to establish the exact requirements for the line.

The Council also renewed a $5,373.20 one-year support agreement with JMA Information Technology for the City's telephone service, which uses VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) through Shoretel Phone system for most of the City's phone needs. It was noted that Lamm Tech declined to respond to a request for proposal. JMA and CMS Communications were the only two responses received. CMS could only provide remote support, so JMA was the chosen vendor.

Temporary liquor licenses for an upcoming event at Katy Park were approved at Monday night's meeting. “Big Bam on the Katy” is scheduled to take place Oct. 8 and involves 300 cyclists coming to town, with many of them camping overnight at Katy Park. Alcohol and food will be served at the event, which also will involve a stage with live music, it was noted.

Two $15 temp licenses were issued to Gina Maben dba Public House Brewery and St. James Winery, out of St. James, Mo. Carolyn Crooker dba Sedalia Convention and Visitors Bureau was issued a $75 special event liquor license for the event.

Tom Adermann dba “Sedalia Hotel, LLC” (Best Western) was issued a new $450 license for liquor by the drink.

Robbin Griffith was issued five liquor licenses Monday night. One was for liquor by the drink and Sunday sales ($750) for Buffalo Wild Wings, and four were for packaged liquor ($150 each) for four Dollar General locations in Sedalia, for a total of $1,350 in license fees.

James Snavely dba E-Street Bar, LLC, was issued a $450 liquor by the drink liquor license.

Service awards and special awards were distributed by Mayor Pro-Tem Don Meier at the start of the meeting.

Judith Poole was recognized for her 30 years of service as a tech servce librarian.

Eric Fleischman (not present) was recognized for his 10 years of service to the Citys Water Pollution Control Department.

James (Jay) Lane was recognized for his five years of building maintenance service at the Municipal Building.

Christopher Ballance (not present) was recognized for five years of service as an equipment operator with the Sedalia Street Department.

Phillip Kindle (not present) was recognized with a retirement award for nine years of service with the Sedalia Street Department.

Charles Brosch was recognized with a retirement award for his 45 years of service with the Sedalia Water Department.